Tire and Wheel Assembly Balancing Guidelines

Important:  Tire and wheel assemblies which exhibit excessive runout can produce vibrations even if the assemblies are balanced.

It is strongly recommended that the tire and wheel assembly runout be measured and corrected if necessary BEFORE the assemblies are balanced.

If the runout of the tire and wheel assemblies has not yet been measured, Refer to Tire and Wheel Assembly Runout Measurement - Off-Vehicle  before proceeding.

There are 2 types of tire and wheel balance:

Fig 1: Identifying Static Balance

Courtesy of GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Static balance is the equal distribution of weight around the wheel circumference. The wheel balance weights (2) are positioned on the wheel in order to offset the effects of a heavy spot (3). Wheels that have static imbalance can produce a bouncing action called tramp.

Fig 2: Identifying Dynamic Balance

Courtesy of GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

Dynamic balance is the equal distribution of weight on each side of the tire and wheel assembly centerline. The wheel balance weights (2) are positioned on the wheel in order to offset the effects of a heavy spot (3). Wheels that have dynamic imbalance have a tendency to move from side to side and can cause an action called shimmy.

Most off-vehicle balancers are capable of checking both types of balance simultaneously.

As a general rule, most vehicles are more sensitive to static imbalance than to dynamic imbalance; however, vehicles equipped with low profile, wide tread path, high performance tires and wheels are susceptible to small amounts of dynamic imbalance. As little as 14-21 g (1/2-3/4 oz) imbalance is capable of inducing a vibration in some vehicle models.